IRGC: US warships pull back 500km from Hormuz as Tehran vows to drive them out
TEHRAN: US warships have withdrawn at least 500 kilometres from the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, according to the spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who framed the move as evidence of American defeat rather than strength.
Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi told Tasnim news agency on Tuesday that before the US‑Israeli war against Iran, between 30 and 40 US warships operated in the Persian Gulf. Today, he said, “not even a single American vessel” remains there, adding that no small craft from the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain is currently active in Gulf waters, according to Tasnim News Agency.
Mohebbi described Washington’s recent threats as “an attempt to portray an obvious defeat as a victory.” He also pointed to a message issued on Monday by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, which suggested US forces would soon retreat further, including from the Arabian Sea.
The IRGC spokesman argued that the US military lacks the structure and stamina for prolonged conflict, citing damage to aircraft carriers such as the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford, along with the high cost of keeping a large presence in the region.
“We will not stop until we drive the US out of the region, punish the aggressor and achieve lasting deterrence,” Mohebbi said, outlining Tehran’s strategy toward foreign forces. He insisted that Iran must make clear to its adversaries that any attack on the country would carry “a heavy price” that the other side would be forced to bear.
The remarks come as the seven month war has kept global attention fixed on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane through which a significant share of the world’s oil passes. For Iranian officials, the reported withdrawal of US warships is both a military development and a political message: that pressure and threats will not bend Tehran, and that the cost of confrontation will only rise.
